Rizka Raisa Fatimah Ramli, “Cipta” Fighting Against Violence
By
Reny Sri Ayu
·5 minutes read
DOKUMENTASI UNICEF
Rizka Raisa Fatimah Ramli
Rizka Raisa Fatimah Ramli is still a teenager, but she is actively campaigning against violence and abuse, together with her schoolmates. She is the creative mind behind a comic character called Cipta, which won her an international comic competition organized by the United Nations Children\'s Fund (UNICEF). She came out on top of about 3,600 comic strips submitted from 130 countries.
The selection process to decide on the winner was very strict. Of the 3,600 comic submissions, a jury chose the best 10, which were then put to a vote online to determine a winner. The “Cipta” character created by Raisa received the strongest support from around 23,000 votes.
“I created Cipta to draw attention to violence and abuse faced by children in Indonesia and around the world every day. I see many people, especially children or adolescents, witness, hear about or experience violence in various forms, but they are silent because they are too afraid to speak up,” Rizka said in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Saturday (05/01/2019).
She hopes to inspire many people, especially children, to tell their stories. If they can’t speak up directly, they can talk through pictures. Cipta, the main character in Rizka’s comics, is a superhero who provides children with sketchbooks to draw objects that later come to life and help stop violence and intimidation.
According to information from the Indonesian Representative Office of UNIFEC, Rizka will now collaborate with a professional team to produce a complete comic book featuring Cipta. The comic will be exhibited for world leaders at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development at the UN Headquarters in New York in July 2019 and distributed to schools and children throughout the world.
UNICEF
A comic character called Cipta
The comic competition, organized by UNICEF in collaboration with Comic Uniting Nations, invited children and adolescents to create superhero comic characters to defeat “The Silence”, a villain who uses supernatural powers to stop children who want to fight violence in their environment.
When we met at a mall in Makassar, like many other teenagers, the ninth-grade science student from state high school SMA 2 Makassar, spent Saturday afternoon hanging out. Everywhere she went, she carried a small book and pencil.
When she gets bored or sees something she finds interesting, she takes out the booklet and begins to sketch or draw. At home, the sketch is completed or turned into a picture story.
“I started drawing when I was in elementary school but used to draw mostly animals. At first, I thought it was just something I like and never thought that I also had talent,” she said.
Rizka said when she was still in junior high school, she would often put drawings or illustrations on school assignments. “Usually, it came out when I didn’t know what to write or was lazy to write a sentence, I suddenly explained through pictures. So, I usually mixed sentences and pictures on the answer sheets for assignments or exams. There are teachers who can accept it, but others who cannot,” said the youngest of the four siblings.
Childhood events
Rizka’s enthusiasm in fighting against violence and abuse is not only voiced through comics or other forms of illustration. She also often campaigned in a small circle among her friends.
Rizka’s anger toward violence, abuse and attempts to silence people from speaking out cannot be separated from her childhood events. Without explaining clearly what she experienced, she recalls how sick
she felt when she was trying to explain an incident of mental violence she experienced, but no one would listen.
“I was in elementary school at the time and tried to talk about what I had experienced, but no one wanted to listen. They even called me a liar and said I did not deserve to speak because I was still little,” she said.
She was often a victim of violence and abuse in her junior high school years. Studying at a school that was somewhat elitist, Rizka and her schoolmates were often attacked with stones or harsh words from students of other schools in the area. Rizka finally poured out her feelings through graffiti, illustrations or comics. Often she talked to friends who did want to listen.
Luckily, those experiences had no negative effect on Rizka. She often encourages friends to fight to bully by reporting the violence they experience or witness.
“I always say, if you experience or witness a violent event, find a friend to talk to. The friends should listen to the story and not make fun of it. As much as possible, they should report what they experienced or saw. “Even if they are reluctant to report and no one listens, write or write in the form of pictures,” she said.
Regarding her fondness and talent for drawing, for Rizka, now it is no longer just an outpouring of the heart. Since entering high school, she often spends her leisure time and holidays meeting orders for illustrations or comics. In fact, there are many orders from abroad.
“What I did, including winning the UNICEF competition, could at least prove that drawing is not only another medium to communicate but can also make me economically productive.
“I want to achieve my dreams through comics and illustrations,” said Rizka, who aspires to continue her education at the Indonesian Art Institute, Yogyakarta.
